When I started this one job, I told them I donot do bedding areas, I just cut grass.

Got a call today that they were not happy about the hedges not being cut, the flower beds being full of weeds and grass etc. and that they were going to find some one else.

Oh I forgot this place has a 45 degree slope in the back, a real pain in the ***.

I could not be happier that they are getting someone else, I under bid the job, but I also did not include any of the bedds, hedges etc either.

I really wish that people would listen to what is being said.

Well there is my rant, thankyou for letting me get it off my chest.

Sprinkler Buddy

08-30-2012, 01:02 PM

Wish I could get away with only mowing. :-)

SECTLANDSCAPING

08-30-2012, 01:10 PM

I hear you steve. I give them a price for what they ask for then after its all said and done. They bring up the extras. Then I tell them it will be this much more for that then its a problem.

I would include weeding the beds in the price if asked first but I would never put hedges in the price. Thats a separate charge.

CHEESE2009

08-30-2012, 01:21 PM

I wish I could provide additional services, but I'm too preoccupied with lawn cutting. I also procrastinate taking on odd jobs, because after mowing I just want to go home and hide.

LawnBoy0311

08-30-2012, 03:14 PM

I ran into the same problem last month! I quoted to do 1 garden, and she emailed me asking why the other 2 weren't done. I guess they only hear what they want...

Lopes Lawn Care

08-30-2012, 07:32 PM

I have found that the worst offenders are old people. They have what i call "lower price selective hearing" and they also suffer from A.D.D. I'll be in the middle of explaining an estimate to them and what the price range is going to be based on said work and depending on what has to be done.

When the work is done they only seem to remember the lowest price I gave and can't remember all the extras that I mentioned. Also while explaining this stuff they seem to lose focus and butt in to talk about other subjects.

For example:

me: "mrs. so and so, trimming your hedges is gonna cost $*** but if you want me to cut the grass with a scissor it's gonna cost more....

Customer: "oh look at that pretty bird in the tree, you know he comes here every day at 3:30 to play with his other bird friends." "what did you say? mowing with a scissor and trimming my hedges is gonna be $5?" your hired. :mad:

CHEESE2009

08-30-2012, 07:53 PM

I have found that the worst offenders are old people. They have what i call "lower price selective hearing" and they also suffer from A.D.D. I'll be in the middle of explaining an estimate to them and what the price range is going to be based on said work and depending on what has to be done.

When the work is done they only seem to remember the lowest price I gave and can't remember all the extras that I mentioned. Also while explaining this stuff they seem to lose focus and butt in to talk about other subjects.

For example:

me: "mrs. so and so, trimming your hedges is gonna cost $*** but if you want me to cut the grass with a scissor it's gonna cost more....

Customer: "oh look at that pretty bird in the tree, you know he comes here every day at 3:30 to play with his other bird friends." "what did you say? mowing with a scissor and trimming my hedges is gonna be $5?" your hired. :mad:

That's one of my clients, great description of him!

Did you know, sometimes it's the squirrels who come to eat the birds seed, ya.. the squirrel will come down every so often, maybe an hour after the feeder is filled, and he'll just go at it! Sometimes he knocks the feeder down and makes a mess.

Chaz

08-30-2012, 08:28 PM

Lol, I have that problem if i dont put it in writing, i try to get detailed on my estimates to make it clear what is and what is not included

Hedgemaster

08-30-2012, 10:34 PM

The weeds overtaking your gravel driveway are not considered a part of "the lawn".

CHEESE2009

08-30-2012, 10:38 PM

The weeds overtaking your gravel driveway are not considered a part of "the lawn".

The only people who believe what you had written to be true, are the people on this forum.

Our customers believe that if grass grew on the bottom of their pools, we should mow it, or we're horrible businessmen. :rolleyes:

Lopes Lawn Care

08-30-2012, 10:48 PM

Yeah that's exactly what I'm talking about.

"Excuse me, I've got a bean stalk growing out of my gutter. cleaning that out is included in my monthly lawn mow right?"

"Weekly only, HOW MUCH?!!?!?!, OOOOhh boy I can't do that. Little Timmy use to do it for $3 and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lets do that price for once a month including the bean stalks"

So goes the crow.

CHEESE2009

08-30-2012, 11:04 PM

Maybe this forum is a bad idea.

I'm thinking that we are all losing our minds. With our combined forces of anger, I wonder what it will lead us to.

When I started this one job, I told them I donot do bedding areas, I just cut grass.

What is your view on why you don't offer these additional services? Could you be making more money in one spot if you did?

Hedgemaster

08-31-2012, 05:54 PM

What is your view on why you don't offer these additional services? Could you be making more money in one spot if you did?

I can't speak for anyone else, but generally people with weeds growing in flowerbeds are not the ones willing to pay for "additional services".

LawnBoy0311

08-31-2012, 07:27 PM

For me thats a big upsell! I get quite a few calls a month to do some weeding. Its pretty profitable for me cause no one wants to do it. All it takes is time...none of that other crap that comes with mowing.

dpld

08-31-2012, 07:45 PM

For me thats a big upsell! I get quite a few calls a month to do some weeding. Its pretty profitable for me cause no one wants to do it. All it takes is time...none of that other crap that comes with mowing.

exactly, there is no money in cutting grass and that is how you get ahead.
the lawn mowing is just a means to get in the door.

CHEESE2009

08-31-2012, 08:25 PM

exactly, there is no money in cutting grass and that is how you get ahead.
the lawn mowing is just a means to get in the door.

I completely agree with this.

-

There is a time and place for up sells, and jumping into it is different for everyone.

I figure, if people start with just lawns until they can hire someone to manage them, that's the best time to jump into offering additional services. Combining all sorts of services can get pretty discouraging if you're the one stuck doing everything.

Establish a service, then get out of it to establish a new service, don't stick around and do it yourself or you'll hate the thought of getting new clients.

Lopes Lawn Care

08-31-2012, 09:45 PM

Most of my customers are pretty nice and most of the time i don't mind talking to them for "a couple mins". It's the old ones that expect 1923 prices that bother me the most. Those are the customers that I put on the replace list. Sometimes you gotta becareful though cause old people know other old people that you work for and once they start caulking it's hard to stop them.

Hedgemaster

08-31-2012, 09:55 PM

Most of my customers are pretty nice and most of the time i don't mind talking to them for "a couple mins". It's the old ones that expect 1923 prices that bother me the most. Those are the customers that I put on the replace list. Sometimes you gotta becareful though cause old people know other old people that you work for and once they start caulking it's hard to stop them.

I must be closing in on that age because when I see $8 for a hamburger on a menu at a family restaurant, I can't grasp how it could cost $8 for a friggin' hamburger.

What's even worse is when these old people (I mean "seniors") have had some kid do the lawn for $15 for years and then decide to call a real lawn service. The price difference is not something they can understand - at all.

dpld

09-01-2012, 10:44 AM

I must be closing in on that age because when I see $8 for a hamburger on a menu at a family restaurant, I can't grasp how it could cost $8 for a friggin' hamburger.

What's even worse is when these old people (I mean "seniors") have had some kid do the lawn for $15 for years and then decide to call a real lawn service. The price difference is not something they can understand - at all.

things cost what they do today because of overhead and the cost of doing business.
everyone is all fine and dandy paying little timmy to cut their lawn for cheap but when little timmy chops his foot off with the mower or causes serious damage to the property by a foreign object getting propelled in the air and smashing the 3,000 dollar window, they get a rude awakening when they see they have to incur the cost or get sued by little timmy because he can not pay the doctors bills and got hurt on their property.

i have been around long enough to where i have seen what was a 3,500 dollar mower when i started is now 10 k and gas was 1.25 a gal and today it is 3.70 a gal and insurance costs were minimal.
the biggest problem with that is today we get not much more then we were 20 years ago for our services but the cost of doing business has tripled.

back when i started all you needed was 30 to 40 lawns and you were set today you can have 150 lawns and you are struggling.